2.25 - 17 SECONDS
tw. mentions of gunshots
MATILDA SAT IN BETWEEN ADDISON AND DEREK. The group of surgeons sat in the vet's office and Meredith and Finn sat across from them. "So, Bone Cancer?" Matilda asked based on the symptoms that Finn explained. The brunette was trying to do most of the talking, aiming to defuse the tension between Meredith and Derek while Addison and Finn just sat there awkwardly.
"I still need to do a bone scan to see how far it's spread. Osteosarcomas are aggressive, but we can try and treat it with chemo or remove the tumour entirely. If it's spread too far, we may have to amputate the limb."
"Well four of us are doctors so we all know how this goes," Derek commented.
"Five of us," Meredith corrected.
"Should we even bother?"
"Oh, right. Let's just let him die, Derek."
"I don't want him to suffer, Meredith."
The four surgeons stood in the hospital elevator in awkward silence. "I hate it when all of my parents fight," Matilda said as the elevator began to go up.
The group ignored her before Addison was the one to break the silence once again, "So what's...I mean, is there something going on?"
"Nope." "No."
"Did you guys have a fight or something?"
"No."
" So...we're all still...friends?"
"Yes." "Yep."
The door to Tilly's floor opened and she quickly exited the elevator, turning around while the door was still open, "By Moms and Dad, have a good day at work," she waved as the doors closed, sure she was going to hear about how awkward it was from Addison later.
"We've got a heart!" Matilda heard her brother say from behind her.
"For Denny?"
"Mercy West has a heart and I'm going to get it, yes."
"Can I come?"
"I would love for you to join me but rumour has it, there's a big trauma coming in. Apparently, someone started shooting at a restaurant so they're gonna need all hands on deck but I'll page you if I need you," He tells her as he ruffles her hair and her pager goes off, telling her to go to the ER.
"Why are they all in the hallway?" Matilda asks as patients lie on extra gurneys throughout the room.
"Overflow from the ER. I heard the shooter got away too." Alex answered as they met the paramedics at the door.
"Neal Hannigan and Deborah Fleiss. They were paying at the register when the gunman came in. She's got a through-and-through to the right upper arm. Good distal pulses. He's sustained a possible graze wound to the right back," The paramedic told the duo and they each took a patient.
"We need to get them to an X-ray," Matilda told Alex and he agreed.
"Don't worry about me, take care of my Deborah first."
"Oh, now you're concerned?" The pair begin to argue.
"I said I was sorry."
"Sorry? The shooting starts, you duck behind me and you're sorry?"
"You ducked behind her?" Alex asked the husband.
"We shared a bullet, Deborah. It went through you and into me. That's a sign we should be together forever. A sign," The man pleaded and the wife continued to argue.
"Good Luck," Bailey says as she walks past the pair of interns.
After stitching up the shooting victims, Matilda met Dr Bailey in the hall as they walked towards Denny's room, "Can you imagine? You're at work, you're doing your job and somebody comes in and shoots you," Tilly asks.
"Lukov, we are giving a good man a new chance at life and you want to bring that up?" The resident raised an eyebrow.
"You're right, sorry... What are you doing here?" Matilda asked as she noticed a perky blonde walk alongside them.
"Stevens promised she would treat him like she would treat a normal patient so she could tell him that he got the heart."
"Ah of course."
" I have some news for you," Izzie said as she walked into Denny's room, Matilda and Bailey waiting by the door.
"Am I getting a better television? Because this one is ridiculously small and it doesn't get the porn channel."
Izzie just chuckled at him, "You're getting a heart, Denny."
At this, Denny sat up straighter and his eyes opened a little wider, " don't mean to be dramatic and all...but I'm going to need you to repeat that. And you say it slow because this is one of those moments in life that I'm going to want to remember in detail."
"You...are getting a heart...from Mercy West. Dr. Lukov already left to get it."
"I guess this means I'm going to have to start taking you on some real dates."
"I guess so."
Patricia walked towards the intern and the resident at the door and handed Matilda some forms. Once reading them over, Matilda looked at Izzie sympathetically, "Denny... Dr Bailey and I are gonna get you ready soon..." She looked over to Izzie and whispered a small 'im sorry' before handing Denny the forms, "Here are the forms you asked for if you were to go back into surgery," she placed a hand on Izzie's shoulder and left the room to stand back with Bailey, the two eventually leaving Izzie to talk with Denny.
After Denny and Izzie's conversation about his DNR form, the couple talked quietly in the room while Matilda stood outside the door, deciding to call Jacob to see how it was going.
"Hello?"
"Alex? I just wanted to know how the heart recovery is going."
"We're working on it."
"Working on it? What do you mean?" At this, Izzie joined her outside the room and Matilda realised that she needed to talk quieter.
Izzie grabbed the phone, "what's happening?"
"There were two donors, Izzie. Our guy's heart flatlined. And now Lukovs trying to get the other guy's."
"Isn't there a list?"
"Yes. And the higher guy gets the heart."
"Denny is getting sicker."
"Izzie..." Matilda started but the blonde continued to talk to Alex on the phone.
"Denny's getting worse by the second. His, uh, sats are in the eighties."
"Stop it," Matilda whispered as she looked around the hallways, making sure nobody heard Izzie.
"Izzie, I'm not going to lie for you."
"Damn it Alex, put Jacob on the phone," Izzie demanded as she walked away from Tilly, taking her phone with her.
Ten minutes later, Izzie finds Matilda as she stands with Meredith and Cristina, "Um, I...I told a lie...to your brother."
"I know, Stevens," the brunette huffed, snatching her phone back from the blonde.
"Woah what happened?" Cristina asks.
"No, no. I need...um...God, I can't think. I...I can't...I don't know what to do. What do I do? There's this guy ahead of Denny on the transplant list."
"He'll get the next heart, Iz," Meredith told her.
"Well, that's not what she told Jake..."
"What are you talking about?"
"Why don't you tell them, Stevens, I'm done with you." Matilda stormed away from the interns and straight into an empty on-call room, the exhaustion and anger taking over her.
Matilda woke up to her phone ringing, seeing she had three missed calls from her brother she knew something was wrong, "Jake?"
"Izzie called me and I feel like something is wrong with Denny," He spoke frantically.
"I am done with Izzie and her Bull-"
"Matilda! I need you to run to the ER. There is a bunch of Spare LVAD stuff there and then go back to Denny's room and prepare to fix whatever Izzie Stevens is about to do. Do you understand?"
"Y-Yes."
"Okay, I'm nearly at the hospital but I know that whatever you start, I can finish,"
"I'll see you soon, Jake," She says as she hangs up and runs to the ER.
When she finally gets everything she needs, she turns around and is about to make her way to Denny's room when something stops her.
Gunshots ring through the air and she ducks to the ground, hiding behind a gurney. Once the gunshots end and silence fills the air, Matilda hears a familiar voice call out to her while a lady screams. She drops the things that she came to the ER for and runs outside.
Her eyes look for one person and one person only, "Jacob?!" She calls out before she turns around to come face to face with her worst fear.